Tag Archive: roller coasters

18 years ago, Kings Island opened Son of Beast, the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster ever built. This coaster was most famous for featuring a massive vertical loop, making it the first modern wooden coaster to go upside down. Unfortunately, due to several manufacturing flaws, this coaster had a reputation for a rough ride and suffered many technical issues. These flaws even resulted in an incident that sent 27 people to the hospital after a cracked wooden beam caused the train to suddenly stop. After less than a decade of operation, this coaster was closed down in 2009 and later demolished in 2012. Since then, Son of Beast has become one of the most infamous defunct rides ever built, and one of the biggest flops in roller coaster history. However, after several years of infamy, this ride may be making a comeback.

A few days ago a teaser flyer appeared at Kings Island. This flyer, shared by Emotional Roller Coasters on Instagram, gives quite a few hints at one of their most famous defunct coasters returning.
First up, there’s the obvious mentioning of Outpost 5, which was the name of the ride’s currently standing but not operating station. The flyer also mentions that after years of searching, the remnants of “number five” have been found and officials are formulating a plan to bring it back.

Moreover, the flyer mentions “southern yellow pine” which was the exact kind of wood used to build Son of Beast.

What’s even more interesting is the phrase “oak strong and iron bound” is used, which could indicate that the fine folks at Rocky Mountain Construction could be resurrecting the ride as a hybrid coaster. While Son of Beast’s original layout was criticized for its overuse of large helixes, Several fan-made rendering online show that an RMC rendition of the coaster has plenty of potential.

As if this flyer wasn’t enough to indicate a possible return of Son of Beast, wooden planks have just recently been spotted under the ride’s memorial in the queue line of Banshee, the park’s B&M Invert. Why put this wood there now unless they were teasing something for the near future.

Speaking of Banshee, some have made the argument that that it would be impossible to rebuild Son of Beast since Banshee uses some of the ride’s land. While this is true, there is quite a lot of empty space in that area, so who’s to say they can’t rotate the coaster’s layout while still reusing the station.

While many Kings Island fans are anticipating a Giga to be the park’s next major coaster, a beefed up reboot of Son of Beast would certainly generate a plethora of buzz. It would make headlines not only the enthusiast community, but to long time fans of Kings Island who remember the failed coaster. As Defunctland’s hit video documenting the coaster shows, there are quite a lot of people curious about this old attraction, and bringing it back as a more functional and exciting coaster could make it an A-list attraction for sure.

Overall, while absolutely nothing has been confirmed yet, the clues given by the park certainly indicate something big in store for kings island. Or they could be trolling us.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Kennywood promised an Independence Day surprise, and we certainly got one. The park released a word search this morning to further tease their massive 2019 addition known as “Project 412.” This word search features several clues which link up to the several numbers the park released over the past few weeks in their scratch-lotto teaser campaign. In the word search below, you can guess what those numbers mean.

The best part about this word search is that it’s part of a contest. The first twelve people to correctly match the numbers with the words will be among the first people to ride the new attraction. Will you be one of those people? Fill out the word search below and find out!

Good news for coaster enthusiasts and Disney fans: that much-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy attraction coming to Epcot will indeed be a roller coaster. At the park’s 35th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, Vice President of Epcot, Melissa Valiquette confirmed to the media that the ride replacing the former Universe of Energy will be a brand new coaster experience. The ride’s manufacturer is currently unknown.

As of right now, Epcot is the only Disney theme park in the world not to have a roller coaster. While Test Track is a high-speed thrill ride, it is technically a powered slot car attraction and does not classify as a coaster. With this new attraction though, Epcot will finally get an RCDB page of its own.

As stated before, the ride, which was announced at this summer’s D23 event, will be built on the former site of the Universe of Energy. The pavilion, up until recently, was home to an arguably outdated show called Ellen’s Energy Adventure, a show that involved Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye talking about the wonders of fossil fuels…oh and there’s a dinosaur diorama worked in there somehow. After years of waning popularity, the pavilion closed earlier this year in order to make way for this brand new attraction.

If you ask me, it’s about time that the park received a massive E-ticket attraction like this. I always thought that Epcot could have used a roller coaster, and with the fine folks at Disney Imagineering involved, this one in particular is sure to blow you away.

In a surprise announcement today Universal Studios said on their official blog that the iconic Dragon Challenge roller coasters will close for good on September 5th. Well this has been predicted for quite some time it is still undoubtedly came as a shock for fans of this attraction. While the rumor of Dragon Challenge’s closure has been buzzing around for a while, not many people expected the closure to be announced this soon. However, considering that fellow Orlando resort Disney World announced several major attractions just weeks ago, it’s clear that Universal wants to one-up the competition.

Originally opening in 1999 as Dueling Dragons, this ride experience was quite innovative for its time. It featured two B&M inverts named Fire and Ice with awesome dragon-shaped trains going head to head. However, in 2011, the park stopped dueling these coasters after several instances of park guest being hit with flying objects from the other train. The incident that sealed this rights fate occurred when a fifty-two-year-old part guess lost his eyeball after being hit in the face with an unknown object. Comments made by the law firm representing the man implied that it was a penny. Naturally, if something as small as a penny could cost someone an eye, these coasters were deemed too much of a liability to keep dueling.

Dueling Dragons at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure

In the years following this incident, Universal installed metal detectors in the queue line. While lawyers said that this was a step in the right direction, it’s clear that it wasn’t enough to have the dragons duel again. So after the removal of such a major attraction, what will replace it now?

Well, while the park will be losing two coasters, it’s at least going to gain another one. Universal confirmed earlier today that Dragon challenges replacement would be quote ” one of the most highly-themed coaster experiences we’ve created. It will combine a new level of storytelling with an action-packed adventure…and a few surprises along the way.” Universal didn’t give many details about what kind of coaster it would be, but a popular rumor going around is a Mack Powered coaster. Something like Arthur at Europa Park. This is a family coaster that lends itself to heavy theming, which fits the few details given on Universal’s blog.

I feel a rumor going around it’s a Mack powered coaster something like Arthur at Europa Park. This is a family coaster that lends itself to heavy theming which fits the few details given Universal’s blog. In addition, it’s rumored that the ride will be theme to the Forbidden Forest. Either way, Universal implied that it would be fun for the whole family. The idea of taking two major thrill rides like Dragon Challenge and replacing them with the family ride is a bit odd, and it’s always unfortunate to see a coaster bite the dust. At the same time though, we could be in for something really special. Escape from Gringotts and Forbidden Journey are fantastic, and despite universal’s recent reliance on screen-based motion simulators there’s always room for innovation.

Fun Spot may not be the biggest or most nationally-known amusement park chain out there, but they certainly are a force to be reckoned with. Just weeks after the opening of their impressive new Gravity Group woodie Mine Blower, the chain announced that they would be buying another park to add to their roster. In addition to Fun Spot’s two Florida locations in Orlando and Kissimmee, the chain will now have a new location in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Fun Junction USA, formerly known as Dixieland Fun Park, is a smaller theme park that’s about a half-hour away from Six Flags Over Georgia. This is just like how Fun Spot Orlando and Kissimmee are located close to bigger Florida parks like Disney World and Universal Studios.

Also like Fun Spot’s other locations, Fun Junction has go-karts, bumper boats, and a few small flat rides. However, while the Fun Spot locations in Florida both have newly-built wooden roller coasters, the only coaster at Fun Junction is an E&F Miller Hi-Miller named Scream’n Eagle (not to be confused with the PTC woodie at Six Flags St. Louis).

Scream’n Eagle at Fun Junction USA

This ride is similar to a Schwarzkopf wildcat and was actually named Wildcat at its previous location at Nevada’s Wild Island. Considering that this is the only coaster at the park, would it be possible for Fun Spot to add an all new wooden coaster here? If this is the case, then we can expect the first Gravity Group woodie to come to Georgia. Though since the park was just recently acquired, we may not see a new coaster go there until Fun Spot decides how good of an investment it would be.

Either way, it’s exciting to see a small chain like Fun Spot grow. I recently paid a visit to their Orlando location and was very impressed with the staff, the late hours, and of course, White Lightning itself. Hopefully they can bring the same excellent service to Georgia, it could very well end up being a hit with the locals.

The 2018 Hype Train strikes yet again. At yesterday’s annual Coaster Con Banquet, Six Flags CEO John Duffy announced that the chain will be receiving five record breaking or “North America’s First” rides in 2018. Now right off the bat, while this announcement is undeniably exciting, it’s also pretty broad.

First of all, the announcement doesn’t say if the record-breaking rides will be WORLD record breaking. For example, they could open the tallest waterslide in North America, but it wouldn’t be taller than the Insano Water Slide in Brazil. Also, it’s very likely that some of the new rides, while unique to North America, can also be find across the globe. Overall, the chain’s exact plans for next year are incredibly unpredictable, but let’s take a look at a few possible options.

A rendering of the Zamperla Backflash

First let’s take a look at some rides that have yet to be built in North America. Considering how Six Flags has worked with Itallian Manufacturer Zamperla in recent years, one very likely addition is a Zamperla Backflash. This is similar to a HUSS Top Spin, but the gondola has an extra axis of rotation. It looks like a truly disorienting experience and right now, there aren’t any built in the United States. Seeing one of these come to a Six Flags park is entirely possible, and would honestly be a pretty cool addition. If one of these does end up coming to the chain, don’t be surprised if it gets a name like Harley Quinn’s Spin-Sanity.

Another company the chain has been working with is S&S. Lately this manufacturer has been on a roll with their new concepts, and their Freespin models have become very popular with Six Flags. So what other S&S rides could the chain get? One coaster that they could bring to Six flags is the rare Suspended Free Fly model. The only one built so far is Tranan at Sweden’s Skara Sommerland. This is more of a family coaster, but it’s still a very unique ride experience. Six Flags could easily theme to Daffy Duck and put in a Bugs Bunny Boom Town.

Could this go to Six Flags Great America?

In addition, S&S has several other unused concepts. One concept that especially stands out is their winged looper. This is like a cross between a Larson Super Loop and a B&M Wing Coaster. This would be a great addition that wouldn’t take up too much space, meaning that it could go pretty much anywhere. For example, if Six Flags Great America actually ends up removing V2, this could go in its place. Plus, if they add something like this, Great America would still have a launch coaster, so there’d really be no loss.

Moreover, there are plenty of other attractions out there whose concepts we’ve seen at IAAPA, so we could be getting some of those as well. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if they went with this figure-eight style super loop from Skyline; it looks like it has some great potential.

Deep Water Dive overlaid onto Waterworld’s map.

Moving on, in terms of record-breakers, Six Flags could also bring a record-breaking water park attraction to northern California’s Waterworld, a waterpark they just acquired this year. Now keep in mind that Waterworld is in a pretty tight spot between two rivers and other businesses, so there’s not a lot of room to expand. However, they do have a nice clearing underneath their Tornado funnel slide, so they could totally fit a couple new body slides down there. As of right now, the tallest water slide in North America is the Ko’okiri Body Plunge at Orlando, Florida’s Volcano Bay. This is a massive trapdoor slide that goes straight down and according to Google earth, the clearing at Waterworld would absolutely allow enough space for something like it. To demonstrate this, I superimposed a satellite view of Kentucky Kingdom’s Deep Water Dive (which is just 4 feet shorter than Ko’okiri) over Waterworld, and it indeed fits inside that spot. All they would have to do is make it a foot taller and they would be able to market it as the tallest Water Slide in North America.

Dive coaster for Magic Mountain?

I’ve also heard a few people online bring up the possibility of giving Magic Mountain getting the world’s tallest and fastest dive coaster, and this wouldn’t be a bad idea. After all, dive coasters draw huge crowds and the closest one to Magic Mountain is thousands of miles away at Cedar Point. However, I’m not so sure that they would go with something like this considering Six Flags hasn’t been making such large capital investments for individual parks.

I’ve also heard the idea of building the world’s tallest Giant Discovery. However, since all giant discoveries are the same height, they would have to have one custom-built by Zamperla to break this record, and I’m not entirely sure if that’s possible.

So to wrap things up, John Duffy’s announcement could mean anything, and it’s still pretty much impossible to predict what the chain will add next year. Nevertheless, it’s still incredibly likely that whatever they do get will be solid additions for their parks and things are really looking up for Six Flags.

Just in time for the first weekend of summer, Fun Spot Kissimmee’s newest coaster is set to open on June 23rd. The park confirmed this by sharing the image above on social media.

This will be the park’s first roller coaster since 2012 and their first ever original roller coaster. Kiddie Coaster was re-located from Illinois’ Enchanted Forest, and the Rockstar Coaster was re-located from Legoland Florida.

Mine Blower is a very impressive looking Gravity Group wooden coaster that was announced by the park last year. Its most defining feature is a unique corkscrew/barrel roll inversion. This will be the second Gravity Group woodie in America to have a corkscrew with the other one being located at Wisconsin’s Mt. Olympus Theme Park.

I got the chance to visit Fun Spot Orlando last year and had an incredible time. White Lightning was an immensely entertaining GCI and I’m confident that Mine Blower will be another home run for the company. Hopefully I’ll get around to checking it out soon.